18 May 2018 – A record turnout of more than 18,300 visitors attended the 10th Entrepreneur Day, which concluded its two-day run at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) today. The number represented a four per cent increase from last year. Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the event hosted a record 276 exhibitors, showcasing a range of innovative products and technologies as well as support services for start-ups. A series of on-site activities were organised to help start-ups seek funding, expand their business, recruit talent and solve problems. These included seminars, pitching sessions, Start-up Clinic consultations, as well as Start-up Mixer “speed dating” meetings between start-ups and experts in various sectors.

Nurturing young entrepreneurs

A key highlight of Entrepreneur Day 2018 was today’s Start-up Express Pitching Final, the final contest of the HKTDC’s new “Start-up Express” incubation programme. Launched in March this year, Start-up Express aims to help start-ups expand globally by connecting them with investors, buyers and potential partners from different parts of the world, through exhibitions, overseas business missions and other activities. Participants are selected through a competition that culminates in the Start-up Express Pitching Final. In this year’s inaugural edition, 20 finalists were shortlisted from 100 entrants.

Today’s Start-up Express Pitching Final was preluded by a Teenage Entrepreneur Pitching session, during which Hilary Yip, the 13-year-old founder of start-up MinorMyna, pitched her business ideas to HKTDC Chairman Vincent HS Lo. She also shared her source of inspiration and story as an entrepreneur. “My business is an online educational platform that helps children of all ages pick up another language by chatting via live video calls with children their own age [in other countries]. My original intention was to help people to learn. But if it’s popular, I think it will make money, just like Facebook,” she said.

Mr Lo said: “Youth are the future of Hong Kong. It’s very important to nurture them and create opportunities for them, as they will be driving force of the city’s economic development.”

Each of them is entitled to participate, free of charge, in a series of major local and overseas activities, worth about HK$160,000, that will help them build their networks and expand their business. The activities include a business mission to the Guangdong Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area and visits to major trade fairs around the world. Business leaders, including Mr Lo; Victor Fung, Group Chairman of Fung Group; Neil Shen, Founding and Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital China; and Daryl Ng, Deputy Chairman of Sino Group will share their experiences with the winners during a series of power meet-ups. NiCubator, a project set up by actor and entrepreneur Nicholas Tse, may also provide the winners with promotion opportunities.

The contest’s Head Judge Antony Leung, also Chairman and CEO of Nan Fung Group, said:
“The quality [of the contestants] is very good. I’m interested to invest many of them. It also shows that Hong Kong’s ecology and environment for start-ups is getting better and better.” Other judges included Jonathan Lee, Director of Karting Empire; Derek Yeung, co-founder of Chef Nic Holdings Ltd, Duncan Chiu, CEO and co-founder of Radiant Venture Capital; Erica Ma, co-founder and Community Advisor of Cocoon, Lap Man, co-founder and Managing Partner of Beyond Ventures; and Chen Guanhua, co-founder of the HKX.